Shio Koube
Shio Koube (神戸 しお Kōbe Shio) is the deuratagonist of Happy Sugar Life. Shio is a lively young girl whose past is shrouded in mystery. She lives with Satō Matsuzaka, whom she believes to be her true love, in Apartment 1208. Unbeknownst to Shio herself, she has been declared missing by the police. Appearance Shio is exactly four feet tall. Her exact weight is unknown, but she does appear to be on the skinny side. She has short and messy blue-black hair that reaches her shoulders. She often puts her hair up in two high pigtails, and has two small pieces of hair that stick up from the top of her head. Shio also has big blue eyes with catlike pupils and a prominent snaggletooth. Shio wears a long-sleeved blue seifuku. Her collar and the cuffs of her sleeves are white, and her bow is blue with darker blue stripes. Her pleated skirt is blue plaid. Her black socks reach to the middle of her calf. Because she never leaves the apartment, she does not wear shoes. While living with her mother, Shio often wore the same outfit, but instead of a bow, she has a tie. She also has brown loafers. When the weather gets warmer, Satou sews Shio a new uniform. The uniform is a short-sleeved white seifuku with a dark blue bow and a pale blue collar, as well as a pale blue plaid skirt. She continues to wear her black socks. After Satou's suicide, Shio is seen in the hospital wearing a pale blue robe and matching shorts. Her hair, instead of her normal pigtails, is left down, and she is also shown wearing both hers and Satou's rings on her left ring finger. She has bandages on her right wrist, her neck, and on both sides of her face. Following the time skip at the end of Volume 10, Shio is shown as a high schooler. Her hair reaches her shoulders with a side ponytail on the right side of her head, adorned with Satou's red tartan ribbon. She appears to be wearing the Makikouhara High School uniform, consisting of the jacket, the skirt, and the ribbon. Interestingly enough, she is only shown wearing one of the rings on her right ring finger. In her character chapter, which takes place after the series but before the time skip, Shio wears a long-sleeved black and white dress. She does not wear any rings. Personality Shio is a lively and cheerful girl whose presence seems to brighten everyone around her. She is very affectionate and loves to make others smile. She also tends to be playful. Due to her age, she is very naive and takes things at face value and assumes everyone is a good person. Shio's innocence is her most prominent trait and the one that draws others to her the most, but it doesn't seem to be entirely genuine. She has severe abandonment issues, as shown when she lived with her mother and the night when Satou came home late. She is willing to do and say whatever she can to keep others from disliking her. While others tend to view her as "pure" and "clean," Shio doesn't agree. She tearfully tells Taiyou that she isn't the pure girl he thought her to be, and that she's unclean. After Shouko's murder, as Shio begins to fully comprehend what's going on around her as well as remember everything about her past, she undergoes a drastic change in personality. She becomes much vocal about her feelings and encourages Satou to do the same. Instead of waiting for Satou to fix everything for her, Shio takes charge and helps out as much as she can, even when her help isn't necessary. She becomes much more confident in her capabilities and her desires. As a result of the stress of growing up in such a volatile environment, Shio blocked out all the memories of her life prior to meeting Satou. As the story goes on, Shio slowly begins to recover these memories for better or worse. After the events of the series, Shio becomes distanced from reality. She chooses not to mend her relationship with her mother and ignores her brother, believing that Satou lives on inside her heart and she doesn't need anything else. She likes to go shopping by herself, viewing her outings as going on "dates" with Satou and wishing to buy things Satou liked and visit places that Satou frequented. She expresses little regard for her own life and wellbeing and even after a man attempts to murder her in her character chapter, Shio explains she doesn't care because the stuffed animal she was on her way to purchase was more important. She often sees Satou in windows, mirrors, and other reflective surfaces, fueling her beliefs that they will be together forever. History Prior to the Main Story Shio was the result of martial rape as one of her father's punishments towards Yuuna. She was a difficult baby who required constant attention, cried a lot, and smiled at everyone. Asahi suggested that Shio could be their incentive to escape from Yuuna's abusive husband, comparing Shio to the moon. Shio often witnessed Yuuna and Asahi being abused by her father. In the future, this leads to a fear of blood and the color red. It's implied he physically abused her as well. When Shio was three years old, Yuuna ran away with her under Asahi's advice. They moved into a small, run-down apartment where Shio was heavily neglected. She wasn't allowed to go outside and it's unclear if she was ever enrolled in school, or where she stayed when Yuuna was at work. Their days were often spent sitting in silence together. In an attempt to help Yuuna feel better, Shio went outside to pick a flower. Upon her return, Yuuna was furious that Shio left the apartment and scolded her. Shio tearfully apologized and Yuuna began to cry as well, apologizing for being a bad mother. In response, Shio petted her on the head. Shio begged her mother to take her outside. Yuuna reluctantly agreed and took her into town. Although Shio was overwhelmed by the amount of people, she quickly cheered up when she saw a cake in a shop window. Shio, in her excitement, let go of Yuuna's hand and ran into the street, where she narrowly escaped getting run over by a truck. Yuuna grabbed her by the hand and took her back to the apartment, where she told Shio that she wasn't allowed to leave the apartment ever again. When Shio protested, Yuuna slapped her. Later that night, Yuuna brought Shio outside with her to walk through town. Shio, confused, continued asking questions about their destination, but never received an answer. When they reached an alleyway, Yuuna pushed Shio down, said goodbye, and left. Shio grabbed onto her mother and begged her not to leave her, but Yuuna left anyway. Volume 10 Shio is shown in the last pages of the final volume as a high schooler. She opens the door to an apartment and announces her arrival to whoever is inside. Relationships Satou Matsuzaka Shio is deeply in love with Satou, despite the seven year age difference and the circumstances that brought them together. She loves spending time with her and they do everything together, from watching TV to eating to sleeping and even bathing. She often pushes herself past her own limits trying to help Satou and make her happy. She is unaffected by the knowledge that Satou has murdered people to keep Shio close to her and states that she wants to protect Satou the same way she protected her. Shio thinks that she and Satou have to be together forever; if they don't, then they will die together, with Shio as her accomplice to whatever crimes Satou may commit. Shio doesn't understand why Satou gave her life to save her and says that she'll spend the rest of her life thinking about it. After her release from the hospital, she often goes on "dates" with a hallucination of Satou, buying stuffed animals and sweets in an attempt to be closer to her. Shio considers her and Satou to be married after their "wedding" at the end of Volume 8 and says that she will love Satou for the rest of her life. Yuuna Koube Shio holds a great deal of resentment for her mother for abandoning her. Taiyou Mitsuboshi Shio is initially friendly towards Taiyou, oblivious to the latter's advances. She admires his hair and is more than happy to grant his wish of being patted on the head. His inquiries about Shio's definition of family is a large factor in regaining her lost memories. While attempting to escape Dear Homes, Shio runs into Taiyou again, but she is considerably nervous around him. When he asks her to pet him on the head again, Shio bursts into tears and explains that she can't purify him because she herself isn't pure. Satou's Aunt Shio enjoys talking to Satou's aunt and gets along with her quite well, much to Satou's chagrin. When Auntie introduces herself, Shio is shown blushing and excitedly tells her about her relationship with Satou. The pair talk about Satou together and Shio seems upset when Satou tries to separate them. Much of Auntie's innuendo goes over Shio's head. Shio is a little sad to say goodbye to Auntie. Shouko Hida Shio and Shouko never speak, but Shio is suspicious of her involvement in Satou's downward spiral following her murder. Trivia * The official fanbook confirms that Shio is eight years old, her blood type is A, she is 122cm tall, and her birthday is January 1st. * The key phrase in designing her character was "a black tiger." * Shio was originally a tsundere-type character who would dislike men and favor women, having a soft spot for Satou. This was cut in the final story as well as Satou and Shio being childhood friends. * Shio's name (しお) means "salt." Koube (神戸) is the name of a port city near Osaka, but the kanji by themselves spell out "God's door." * In Shio's character chapter, she mentions that she loves her name, specifically her first name. * Shio's favorite color is pink.